There's a Pony in here Somewhere
by Vol lady
Summary: An argument between Jarrod and Nick gets very out of hand and results in a run of bad luck that suddenly turns - better!
1. Chapter 1

There's a Pony in Here Somewhere

Chapter 1

Everyone knew that when Jarrod came in the front door, there would be trouble. Nick had been pacing around, frowning. He'd pour a drink for himself, take one swallow, then set the glass back down on the refreshment table and pace some more. He was like a caged lion right before dinnertime.

Victoria and Audra sat on the settee, sipping sherry uneasily, while Heath stayed on his feet, trying to be ready for anything. He thought back on what had happened over the last few days – how Jarrod had taken on an unpopular client accused of murder, how the man's three sons had terrorized Stockton late one afternoon after drinking far too much, how they had actually slapped Victoria and Audra around not knowing who they were. Those three were in jail now, but while this was happening, Jarrod had found evidence that his client was innocent and the old man was now free. The client was on his way out of the cell block door even as his sons were going in. Everyone around was waiting on pins and needles to see what the old man would do now that his three sons were locked up and he wasn't.

And then Jarrod had the nerve to try to talk his mother and sister out of pressing charges against the sons.

Nick was livid. He didn't care about Jarrod's rationale – that letting the sons out of jail was the best chance of putting the whole episode to rest. That family would just go back to working the farm and that would be the end of it. Nick convinced his mother and sister to pursue the charges despite Jarrod's pleas. It didn't take much convincing. Nick didn't want to see the Robinson boys slapping anybody else around, and neither did Victoria or Audra. This time, they just thought Jarrod was wrong in his advice.

As soon as Jarrod came in the front door, Nick resumed the argument they'd been having in town before they came home. Jarrod was ready to quit yelling but without giving up his belief that he was right. Nick wasn't ready to end it yet, so while Jarrod was putting his hat, gun belt and briefcase away in the hall, Nick was already yelling.

"The end of it, my eye!" Nick had yelled, picking up the fight where they had left off. "Those Robinsons are worthless and dangerous! Those boys hit both mother and Audra – HIT THEM! They have to pay for that!"

"Nick, Mother and Audra aren't hurt," Jarrod argued, coming into the living room. He looked toward his mother and sister, sitting on the settee. "If we don't pursue the charges, this will all blow over."

"You don't slap my mother and sister across the face and not pay for it!"

"They've been in jail for three days – "

"And they ought to stay there for at least three months!"

"And who's gonna work the farm for the old man if they do?"

"Assault, Jarrod!" Nick yelled. "This was out and out assault!"

Heath was watching and listening from a spot between Nick and Jarrod but not directly between them. They were still a good eight feet from one another, Nick at the refreshment table and Jarrod just into the living room. Heath didn't want to put himself into this battle just yet, but he wanted to be ready to do it if he had to.

"I know what assault is, Nick!" Jarrod yelled. "I've seen you commit it a few times and gotten you out of trouble, or have you forgotten that?"

"Me?!" Nick yelled. "At least I've never come so close to killing a man you had to pull me off or watch me hang!"

Jarrod's blue eyes turned an ugly black. Hearing Nick bring up that extremely sore spot in Jarrod's life sent him over the edge. "Damn you - "

Jarrod started toward his brother, trembling with rage. Heath got in between them and held Jarrod back. "Jarrod, back off!" Heath shouted into Jarrod's face. Then he turned on Nick. "You too, Nick! Walk away, right now!"

Jarrod's glare shifted from Nick to Heath now. He glanced at his mother and sister and didn't hear any support from them either. They had taken Nick's side and weren't listening to him, even though when it came to legal matters they usually followed his advice, not Nick's. But even if a part of him understood why they felt the way they did, Nick had no right to carry the argument as far as he'd carried it.

And then Nick growled, "Get out of here."

Jarrod turned around fast, grabbed his hat, gun belt and briefcase from the hall and kept on going, through the dining room and out the kitchen door.

Silas was there, cooking dinner, but when Jarrod didn't give him a glance or say a word before tearing out the door, Silas got worried. He had heard the loud voices coming from the living room but couldn't make out the words, and knew better than to try to get closer. But usually things calmed down and all that remained was some silence at dinner. He couldn't remember the last time anybody walked out the back door.

As soon as Jarrod was gone, Heath let go of the front of Nick's shirt. Nick still snorted and stared after his older brother, but his puffed out chest eased off.

"Nick, sit down and calm down," Victoria said quietly. "This is not worth banishing your brother over and you know it."

Nick picked his drink up from the refreshment table and headed for the chairs, but he avoided Jarrod's "thinking chair." He didn't want to be reminded of Jarrod right now. He sat in the other armchair and he drank.

Heath had played peacemaker quite a few times since he'd come here, but this was one of the bigger blow-ups he'd arbitrated. He looked at Victoria and Audra almost apologetically, thinking in the back of his mind that maybe he should have headed this ruckus off before it got so out of hand. He poured himself a drink, but then he stayed where he was, in case Nick jumped up and went after Jarrod.

Because after all the hot words in town and what had gone by here, Nick looked ready to beat his older brother to a pulp.

Nick finished his drink and said, "I don't want him back."

Everyone's ears pricked up. "What?" Victoria said.

"You heard me. He's out of here for good."

"Nick, you can't mean that," Audra said.

Nick glared at her now. "I own this property. Mother has the right to stay here for life, but the rest of you are here because I let you be here. Jarrod goes. He can go to his place in San Francisco or go live in Stockton or take off for parts unknown, but I don't want him here anymore."

No one was sure how to answer that. Nick was right. The property was legally his, and only Victoria had a legal right to stay here. Heath and Audra looked at each other, half wondering if Nick would ever take the notion to throw them out. The near tears coming into Audra's eyes made Heath ready to go after Nick himself.

Victoria was the first to recover her thoughts, and she made sure to set them out without raising her voice. "Of course, you have the right to insist Jarrod leave for good, but we decided a long time ago that whether any one of us stays or goes from this family, it is up to that person and to the family, not just to you. You'd better leave whatever rights you think you have to throw Audra and Heath out alone, and you'd better think hard about evicting Jarrod before you go against the family and do it, because I for one am not going to vote to throw him out. It's foolish to treat this as if it's worth breaking the family up. Besides, if he leaves, you have to hire another attorney in town, and that means a lot more time in town than you spend now, which you will hate."

"If that's how it's got to be, then that's how it's got to be," Nick said. "But I won't have his legal business threatening this ranch and this family anymore."

"Nick, you hit him below the belt when you brought up Rimfire," Heath said.

Nick glared hard at Heath now. Nick actually knew what he was doing when he hit that weak spot in his older brother's psyche, and part of him even regretted it, but another part felt just fine about it.

"Maybe you ought to go talk to him, Nick," Heath tried.

"I'll talk to him when he comes back in," Nick said. "But I'm gonna let him know how I feel, regardless of what the rest of you think."

"Nick, you've already done that. Don't buck the family on this," Victoria said. "Audra and I agree with you that the Robinsons have to be punished, but Jarrod doesn't need to be. Jarrod will leave if you tell him to, and I for one am not going to like that one bit."

"Mother, what are we supposed to do? He takes these cases that cause us trouble, and he does it without giving us a second thought! How many times have we been threatened because of him? You want that to keep going on, because if he stays here, it will."

A knock at the door interrupted things. "I'll get it," Heath said and went to the door.

Nick looked at his sister while Heath was at the door, and he let his gaze fall. "I'm sorry, Audra. I didn't mean you to think I'd ever want you to leave."

Audra said, "It's all right, Nick. You're upset. You don't really know what you're saying."

"I do about Jarrod," Nick muttered.

Victoria and Audra looked up at Heath speaking to someone at the door, but whoever it was left without coming in. Heath closed the door and came back into the living room.

"Well, it looks like Jarrod made the decision for us," he said, "Ciego says he rode into town. Said he was spending the night in his office and going to San Francisco on the morning train. Asked us to come for his horse tomorrow. I told Ciego to take care of that."

Asking them to collect his horse meant he was planning to be in San Francisco for quite a while.

Victoria slowly looked into her glass of sherry and then took a sip. She did not like to interfere in the battles between her sons, even if it meant one of them would leave, possibly for good. Jarrod and Heath were old enough and experienced enough to make their own decisions, live their own lives no matter where, and deal with Nick in their own ways. She would let them.

But to say she was happy about Jarrod leaving or Nick wanting to throw him out – even given what trouble Jarrod's business had brought to the town and the family – would be stretching it a lot. She understood Jarrod's anger at her refusal to follow his advice and drop the complaint, but like Nick she was too concerned that the Robinson boys would attack someone else someday over something or other and do more damage. She half considered going into town to talk to her oldest before he left for San Francisco, but Jarrod had made up his own mind about leaving and now that he had, she wouldn't interfere. If she did, it wouldn't help Jarrod feel any better, and it would make Nick even angrier.

Silas came in. The look on his face told everyone he knew what was going on and didn't know what to do about it. He tried to say, "Dinner is served," but it came out half a croak, half uncertain as to whether he should serve it or not.

Victoria said, "We'll be in in just a minute, Silas. Please remove Jarrod's plate."

"Yes, ma'am," Silas said and left.

Victoria was the first to get up, and she got up slowly, leaving her unfinished glass of sherry on the coffee table. She said, "I suggest we eat and then we think about everything that's happened over the last few days."

Victoria headed for the dining room without an escort. Her children gave each other unhappy looks as they followed along.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Jarrod didn't play poker all that often but sometimes he just felt the need to lose himself in gambling and drinking. This was a good evening to be doing it, and since he had left home without dinner, he needed the food, too. He had a sandwich and a beer at Harry's saloon while he tried to deal with hand after hand of terrible cards. _It just figures_ , he thought. _Bad luck follows bad luck_.

Jarrod raised the going bet by five dollars. One of the other attorneys in town was the only one left in the hand at the table, and he called. "Two pair, aces and tens," Jarrod said and showed his hand.

The other lawyer shook his head and showed his cards. "Sorry – three threes."

"Threes?!" Jarrod moaned.

"I said I was sorry," the man said.

After about an hour, when he'd finished his dinner and lost too much money, he decided he'd lost too much of himself as well and left Harry's saloon. He lit a cigar when he left the building and began a slow wander back up the street to his office.

"Didn't expect you back in town tonight, Jarrod," came a familiar voice from not too far ahead.

"Evening, Fred," Jarrod said as the sheriff approached, and they stopped to talk.

"Too noisy at home?"

Sheriff Madden had heard the Barkley family argument beginning as the rest of his family left the jail after filing a complaint against the Robinson boys. Jarrod grunted. "This is one of those times I'd best get out of the way of my middle brother before I slug him."

"Wow. That bad."

"I'm heading for San Francisco on the morning train. I don't have anything important to do here. In case you need me for anything."

"Nothing I can think of, but you ought to know old Stan Robinson was looking for you to represent his sons. I had to remind him your mother and sister were the ones swearing out the complaint on them. It's just too bad those boys couldn't keep their tempers. This whole thing would be over with by now."

"Well, I'll just go trade one set of troubles for another."

"You won't be back for the Robinson boys' trial?"

"No, I'd better keep clear. This is a trial for Nick, not me."

"Nick?"

"He was pressing for Mother and Audra to file the complaint. I suggested they let things go, but my objection was overruled. Mother and Audra agree with Nick on this."

"That's unusual, for your family to take legal advice from Nick."

"Nick convinced them that if they didn't file the complaint, the Robinson boys would cause more trouble. They didn't need a lot of convincing."

"Maybe he was right."

"Maybe, but Nick is just too angry Mother and Audra were slapped around, and they are, too." Jarrod shrugged.

"Yeah, I was surprised your mother wasn't hitting back. When do you expect to be in Stockton again?"

Jarrod heaved a sigh. "I'm not really sure. At some point Audra will probably write me and tell me that Nick has cooled off and she'll ask me to come home. If my workload allows, I'll come back then."

Sheriff Madden chuckled. "Well, I hope you have a good stay in San Francisco. We'll miss you around here."

Jarrod nodded, suspecting that they wouldn't miss him in Stockton any more than they normally did when he went to San Francisco – in other words, they wouldn't miss him much. Several new lawyers had set up offices in town. Stockton could get along so well without him that Jarrod often thought he might move to San Francisco for good. He thought that maybe this time he ought to go ahead and do it.

But he didn't say that. He just gave Sheriff Madden a friendly clap on the arm, said, "I'll be sleeping in the office if you need me, Fred. Good night."

"You could at least get a room at the hotel," the sheriff said.

Jarrod shook his head. "Maybe I'd rather punish myself for arguing a lousy case with my family, and sleep on that sofa."

"Good night, Jarrod," Sheriff Madden said with a laugh, and they parted company.

Jarrod headed on toward his office, smoking his cigar, not paying close attention to who was in the street or even what time it was. He was thinking about things he might need to take with him to San Francisco, cases from here he could work on while he was there, a book he might want to read on the train. He was thinking about anything but home.

XXXXXXX

In the early morning hours, Heath got up for some personal business, but afterward he noticed a light downstairs, coming from the kitchen area. Somebody was raiding the icebox, and Heath could have bet it was Nick. Heath went downstairs, barefoot and wearing only his pants, and found that he was right. There was Nick, in slippers and a robe, eating a sandwich at the kitchen table.

"Can't sleep?" Heath asked.

"Not with my stomach grumbling," Nick said.

"I saw the light and figured it was probably you."

Nick broke his sandwich in half. "Want some?" he asked, holding out a piece to Heath.

"Thanks," Heath said, took it and sat down beside Nick at the table. "You know, that train to San Francisco doesn't leave until eight or so."

"What makes you think I'm thinking about the train to San Francisco?" Nick asked, grouchy.

"Just thought you might be," Heath said. "If Jarrod's gonna be gone for a while, that guilt you're carrying around is gonna turn into one uncomfortable stew."

"I'm not carrying any guilt."

"Really? Think about it, Nick. You got Mother and Audra to go against Jarrod's legal advice. That had to be a first, and I'll bet you're second guessing yourself, and if you haven't already started thinking that maybe Jarrod was right you will be soon. And then you'll feel guilty because he isn't here for you to apologize to."

"He's the one who walked out, Heath."

"Naw, Nick, we threw him out, just like you said you wanted to do. When we ignored his advice and you two started blasting away about it, we essentially threw him out. I think Jarrod told me once that was called 'constructive eviction.'"

"Don't you go getting all lawyer-ee on me."

"Just trying to help you ward off your guilt pangs."

Nick sighed. Heath was making points. "So, you think I should go talk to him before he leaves?"

"I think you'd feel better, and you're a lot easier to live with when you feel better."

"What do Mother and Audra think?"

"They're afraid you really will throw him out for good, and that would be partly their fault. Audra told me that, Nick. She's worried."

"Heath, how can I get him to quit doing these things that hurt the family, like taking those cases that involve people who are such - trash?"

"You really mean to call people 'trash,' Nick?"

"Some people _are_ trash, Heath."

"All right, but Jarrod didn't know the Robinsons were gonna knock Mother and Audra around. They didn't even know who Mother and Audra were, they'd been drinking so much."

"But sometimes it seems like the more unpopular the cause, the more he goes for it and the more trouble it causes around here."

"He takes them because nobody else will. Look, I don't like it anymore than you do when somebody takes their anger at Jarrod out on the rest of us, but we've had men mad at you and me take it out on the family, too. That never stopped us from doing what we thought we had to do."

Nick grumbled.

"If you won't go talk to him, I will, but it won't mean anything coming from me. You're the one who can throw him out."

"All right, all right, I'll go talk to him. But we're all going to have to come to an understanding. If these cases he takes are going to put the family at risk, then the family has a say in whether he takes them or not."

Heath gave a low whistle.

"What?" Nick asked.

"Are you ready to say the family has a say in any contract for cattle you might want, or who you hire or fire?"

"That's different."

"Is it? We've had men you hired cause trouble for the family a few times. How is that different?"

Nick grumbled again and got up. "I'll think about it," he said and walked out.

Heath had to smile. He loved hearing Nick grumble, because that meant he was beginning to understand what you were saying even if he didn't really want to. Heath finished his sandwich, put out the light, and went back to bed.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Whether it was intentional or subconscious, Nick missed the morning train to San Francisco, and Chad at the depot told him Jarrod was on it. "How'd he look?" Nick asked.

"Oh, well," Chad stammered a bit. He did that when he didn't want to answer the question. "He – uh – "

"Hung over?" Nick asked flat out.

"Maybe a little but mainly just – kinda cramped," Chad said.

"Cramped?" Nick asked.

"Like his back hurt."

 _He really slept in his office_ , Nick thought, and then he felt a little sorry that Jarrod had gotten away without talking to him. So what to do now?

There wasn't much to do except head home and get back to work. Nick headed straight for where he knew Heath was helping to clear some mesquite that was presenting a fire hazard. He found Heath there with two of the ranch hands, already piling the mesquite for a careful controlled burn.

Shirtless and covered with sweat, Heath took a moment to towel off and get a drink from a canteen at the wagon when he saw Nick coming. Nick pulled up there and hitched his horse to the wagon, then began to remove his gloves and shirt.

"Did you catch him?" Heath asked.

Nick shook his head. "Train left before I got there."

"Did you send him a wire in San Francisco?"

"No, I just decided to leave things where they were for the time being."

Heath sighed and drank some more water. Nick pulled his vest and shirt off, then put his gloves back on. "Did you and Jarrod fight like this when you were younger?" Heath asked.

"Ah, it's gotten worse as he's gotten older, more stubborn and secretive and don't get me started again, Heath."

"All right, all right," Heath said, trying to calm down Nick's rising temper before it was in full blast again. "We got the first pile ready to fire – you wanna cut mesquite or tend the fire?"

Nick looked around. "You tend the fire. I'll cut. It might make me feel better."

They got back to work, and Nick hoped cutting mesquite would help him get his older brother off his mind.

XXXXXXX

Jarrod dozed a bit on the train, but when he got to San Francisco he shook himself awake and immediately headed for his home there. The hack driver heard the address and looked funny. Jarrod didn't quite understand why, but the man took him there, so he really didn't give it another thought – until they got there.

"Holy – " he said when they arrived and the hack driver was not permitted to go any further than the end of the block.

But Jarrod could see what the problem was. He paid the man and climbed out of the hack, and then he tried to get to his house, but a police officer stopped him.

Jarrod could only stare, his heart in his feet. Yesterday, he had two homes. Today, he had none, because his house and the house beside it were just rubble spilling out into the street.

"You can't go in there, sir," the police officer said.

"That's my house," Jarrod said, dazed. "That's my house."

Another officer, one whose uniform said he was higher in rank, was standing closer to the remains of Jarrod's house. He waved Jarrod on in, and the policeman who had stopped him let him go.

Jarrod recognized the officer who had waved him in once he got closer. Sergeant Tierney was someone Jarrod had met before, on more than one case. They were only acquaintances, but right now Jarrod felt like Tierney might be the only friend he had in the world.

"What happened?" Jarrod asked.

"We still don't know, Mr. Barkley," Tierney said. "Investigators for the fire department and for your insurance company are working on that now. The only thing I can say is that there was some sort of explosion during the night that took out your place and your neighbors' and damaged a couple others."

Jarrod's alarm rose up in him. "Is everybody all right? Was anybody hurt?"

"Miraculously, there are no casualties at all. Everybody in the other houses got out without even a scratch. Fortunately, you and your neighbors who lost your places were all away at the time."

"Thank God for that," Jarrod said, but then practical matters came to mind. He had left Stockton without any clothes, thinking he had plenty here. He didn't now. And there were files and important papers in his house. Maybe the safe was still intact, but anything made of paper was either ash or at the bottom of this pile of debris that was soaked with water.

Another man Jarrod didn't know came toward them. Sgt. Tierney said, "Mr. Barkley, this is Donald Lindon, the investigator for your insurance company."

Lindon offered a hand and Jarrod took it. "We're still looking at this, Mr. Barkley, but it looks like there was an explosion that caused a fire."

"Explosion?" Jarrod asked. "Why?"

"That we're not sure about. We're looking for any kind of remnant of anything like dynamite or any accelerant that might have fed the fire, but at first glance it looks like a pure gas leak. This is going to take a while to sort out, though."

"When do you think I can get to anything that's salvageable?" Jarrod asked.

"Not for a day or two, but we'll have guards here to make sure there's no looting," Lindon said. "They're working on your claim back at the office now, and luckily your neighbors were insured with us too, so we can address this all at once."

Jarrod thought of the people next door, a couple with a young son. "The Coopers – does anyone know where they are?"

"According to the people at Mr. Cooper's office, they'd gone over to see his wife's family in Sacramento. His office was going to notify him, so they'll probably turn up tomorrow. Your other neighbors were home and they've left until we can certify their homes are safe."

Jarrod finally let out a moan, staring at what was left of his house.

Lindon said, "The agent handling your case is named William Painter. He went off to your office a couple hours ago. He was going to talk to your secretary about notifying you in Stockton and getting someplace for you to stay."

Stockton, Jarrod thought and more alarms went off. His family would get a telegram that his house burned down, and what would they think? That he was in it?

"I'd better get to my office and see my secretary," Jarrod said.

Lindon handed Jarrod a card. "You can contact both Painter and me here, but I'll be here at your house again tomorrow."

Jarrod pocketed the card, thanked both Tierney and Lindon, and then went back to the end of the street. He was able to hail a hack within ten minutes or so, and within half an hour, he was at his office.

"Oh, Mr. Barkley," his secretary said as soon as he came in the door. "I am so sorry."

Jarrod tried a smile as he dropped his briefcase on the floor. "Angie, I hope you can help me sort some things out."

She smiled. "I've already been working on it. I've gotten you a room at the Baldwin through the end of the week. I've notified your tailor and he'll be staying open until nine waiting for you. I made you a dinner reservation for seven at your club, and your insurance agent will meet you there."

Jarrod relaxed into a better smile. He could have kissed her. "Thank you, Angie," he sighed. "Now all I have to do tonight is wire the bad news to my family."

"I've already done that, too, but I haven't heard back from them. But I didn't know you were coming here when I did. I got your wire after that."

Jarrod rubbed his forehead. "I left kind of in a hurry, which is why I have no clothes. I didn't think I needed to pack. I'll wire them again this evening so they don't worry. Thank you for taking care of all this for me, Angie. I'm going to go see the tailor and have dinner and collapse at the Baldwin. I'll come back here first thing tomorrow."

"All right, Mr. Barkley," Angie said. "Have as good an evening as you can."

"Thanks to you, Angie, it will be much better than it otherwise would be."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Jarrod went to his tailor's first, finding the man there waiting for him even though by the time he got there, the shop would normally have been closing up. As soon as Jarrod came in, Mr. Coretti flipped the open sign to closed and locked the door. "I am yours now, Mr. Barkley," he said. "I heard about your misfortune."

"Since I was on the train, I think everybody heard about it before I did," Jarrod said, taking his suit jacket off. "Joe, I don't have a stitch of clothing except what I have on."

Coretti took Jarrod's jacket, saying, "That's why I took the liberty of getting you some new underwear and socks and neckties, and I have a shirt that will fit you that is not a dress shirt – you can use it to work on your home."

"Got any pants I can fit into?" Jarrod asked.

"Let me take some measurements and we'll see. It's been a while since I made anything for you, Mr. Barkley. We'll have to see if you've gained or lost any inches."

Jarrod stepped into the back room with Coretti, who set about measuring him.

"Well," Coretti said, "believe it or not, you have lost an inch around the waist."

"I've been working around the ranch a little bit recently," Jarrod said. "Shifted things around."

"On you or on the ranch?" Coretti asked with a laugh.

"Both, it seems," Jarrod said.

It wasn't long before all the measurements were taken. Coretti announced that he could have a pair of casual pants ready in the morning and would work on a new suit after that. Jarrod grabbed the man by the sides of his face and kissed him on the pate of his balding head. Coretti laughed.

Jarrod went to his club for dinner next and found his insurance man Painter already waiting for him in the lobby. They had a remarkably relaxing dinner together – relaxing probably because Jarrod had good coverage on his home and the man was anxious to see he was well taken care of, even if they hadn't yet determined the cause of the explosion. After a thick steak and some excellent merlot, Jarrod bid Painter good night and went to check in at the Baldwin.

By ten o'clock Jarrod was relaxing in bed wearing only some of the new underwear Coretti had gotten for him. His suit and shirt still gave off too much of a smoky smell from the fire for his taste so he moved them far across the room near an open window, to air them out. He thought about how insane the last two days had been and couldn't believe it – the argument with Nick, feeling he was losing his home in Stockton, leaving Stockton only to find he no longer had a home or even any clothing left in San Francisco, running around all over the place just trying to get back a sense of normalcy.

He was exhausted from just thinking about it. It took very little time for him to fall asleep.

XXXXXXX

The Barkleys were having dinner at home at the same time Jarrod was having dinner at his club, but they were still uneasy with each other over Jarrod's abrupt departure. They hadn't talked about him at all, even though he was on everyone's mind. Nobody really knew what to say. All they knew at this point was that he had left for San Francisco before Nick could talk to him, and while they were hoping he'd at least wire that he had arrived safely, he hadn't done that.

It was during dinner that the telegram arrived from San Francisco. Silas met the runner at the front door and brought the telegram to Victoria at the table, saying, "This just came, Mrs. Barkley. The runner is waiting for a reply."

Victoria took it from him gratefully, assuming it was from Jarrod saying he'd arrived safely in San Francisco. "You can send him on back to town, Silas. We'll reply tomorrow."

Silas left as Victoria opened the telegram. She did not read what she expected to read. She turned completely white. "Oh, my God – "

"What is it?" Heath asked quickly.

"It's from Jarrod's secretary," Victoria said. "She's looking for him. There was an explosion and fire at his house."

"When?" Nick asked, his heart pounding fast. "Does she say when?"

"No," Victoria said, beginning to tremble.

Heath got up and ran to get the runner before he left.

Audra began to look frightened, but she said, "Mother, it may have happened before he got there."

"Audra's right," Nick said, but his voice wavered. "He couldn't have gotten there before late this afternoon. He probably hadn't gotten home yet."

"Oh, my God," Victoria said over again, letting the telegram fall to the table.

Nick picked it up and read it. Its arrival in Stockton was set at just before six. Nick started to shake. He couldn't tell when it was sent. Jarrod could have been there when it happened, but he said, "This got to Stockton an hour ago. It reads like it was sent before Jarrod got to San Francisco. He's probably all right."

Terrified, Victoria got up from the table, but she didn't go anywhere. "We need to find out. We need to find out right away."

Heath came back in. "The runner got away too fast. I'm going into town and see if I can wire somebody to find out what happened."

Nick said, "I'm going with you, Heath."

"All right, let's go," Heath said, and he and Nick were out the door.

Audra got up from the table and took her mother into her arms. "Mother, you know telegrams don't travel that fast. This probably all happened before Jarrod got to San Francisco."

Victoria looked at her. "If he wasn't there, he arrived to find his home destroyed. He thinks he's lost both of his homes. If he's alive, if he's not hurt, he still thinks he's lost both his homes."

"Nick and Heath will straighten things out, Mother," Audra said. "Don't worry. Jarrod's all right, and by tomorrow morning at the latest, he'll know he hasn't lost his home here. He'll know we want him here with us."

Victoria nodded, but she was still in tears.

Audra guided her back to the table. "Come on now, Mother. You need to eat. We're not going to do Jarrod any good if we don't take care of ourselves."

Victoria nodded again and let Audra sit her down.

XXXXXXX

Nick and Heath hurried into the telegraph office, but it wasn't until they were composing a message that they realized they didn't know where they were going to send it. "There won't be anybody at Jarrod's office," Heath said, "and assuming Jarrod's all right, we don't know where he is."

"We need to send something anyway," Nick said. "To his office. Even if we don't find out anything tonight, it'll be the quickest way to find out something in the morning."

Heath nodded and scribbled out a message to Jarrod's secretary. As they were having it sent, Heath wondered, "Do you think Fred Madden might be able to find out anything quicker?"

"Let's go ask him," Nick said.

They paid for the telegram and hurried down the street to the sheriff's office, but he wasn't there. They didn't know where he was, but assuming he was making rounds, they hurried back out into the street and began to look for him. It took a good ten minutes, but they finally found him jiggling doorknobs on the shops the next street over. They called to him.

Sheriff Madden heard them and waited for them in front of the mercantile. "Evening, fellas," he said. "Something wrong?"

"Jarrod went to San Francisco on the morning train. We got a wire from Jarrod's secretary there that Jarrod's house there has burned down," Heath said. "She was looking for him, and we're trying to find out if he was there yet and whether he's all right."

"We don't know who to ask," Nick said. "Jarrod's office won't be open now. His secretary won't be there, and we don't know where Jarrod might be. Is there anybody you can contact tonight?"

"I can try," the sheriff said.

They went to the telegraph office together, and Sheriff Madden immediately wrote out a wire to the police precinct where Jarrod's house was located.

"I can't promise they'll get back to me tonight," the sheriff said as he wrote. "Might pay you to wire Jarrod's secretary tonight – that way she'll get the message in the morning."

"We already did that," Nick said, "but if we can find out if he's all right tonight, it would help us all a lot."

The sheriff had heard the Barkley family argument brewing the day before, as the family left his office after signing the complaint against the Robinson boys. Sheriff Madden understood that there was more than worry for Jarrod's wellbeing here. There was some definite guilt going on, too. The sheriff gave the wire to the telegrapher and Nick paid for it. "I'll let you know if they get back to me tonight," the sheriff said, "but it's already past nine o'clock. We might not know anything until morning."

Nick looked distinctly unhappy, but he thanked Sheriff Madden, and he and Heath parted company from him out in the street.

Heath was worried sick, but like the sheriff, he knew Nick was carrying a lot of guilt, too. If Jarrod had been caught in that fire, if he had been hurt or God forbid killed, it would have happened while he and Nick were still angry with each other. That was bitter to think about.

"Try not to worry, Nick," Heath said. "He took the morning train. He probably didn't get there until after the fire."

"To find out he didn't have any home left," Nick echoed his mother's worries. "Dammit, Heath, I shouldn't have let him get out of the house. I shouldn't have let him go to San Francisco."

Heath gave Nick's shoulder a rub. "We should get on home. Mother and Audra need us."

Nick nodded. "Yeah."

When they got home and didn't have any new information to give Victoria and Audra, it didn't help anything at all. Nick and Heath tried to keep their mother and sister calm, but now no one wanted to go to bed. Even though they knew it wasn't likely Sheriff Madden would get through to anyone in San Francisco tonight – and even if he did, a reply wasn't likely to come very quickly – they couldn't help hoping for some word. The uncertainty was horrible.

Sheriff Madden came to the house just before eleven. He held two telegrams in his hand. "The police in San Francisco confirm the fire but the inspector hasn't determined a cause yet. Jarrod was NOT there when the explosion and fire happened. He came by late this afternoon, though, so he's all right and he knows what happened, and that's what HE says in this telegram he's sent to you. He doesn't say where he's staying, though. We're just gonna have to wait until tomorrow to find him."

The sheriff gave Victoria the wire from Jarrod. All it said was that there was a fire but he was all right, and that was it. Victoria was disappointed there wasn't more, but she was still relieved. "At least he's not hurt," she said.

Sheriff Madden squeezed her hand. "We'll find out more in the morning, Victoria. You get a good night's sleep. Everything will be all right."

Nick thanked the sheriff and let him out the door. When he came back in the foyer, Heath was putting his arm around Victoria. Nick was looking and feeling sour. "He could have said more than that."

Heath looked up at his brother and said, "Maybe he didn't know where he'd be staying when he sent that. We'll head into town and check with the telegraph office first thing tomorrow. If we don't have anything from him or his secretary saying where he's staying, we'll wire again."

"At least he's not hurt," Victoria said again.

Nick could see she was still concerned, probably because his wire was so terse. "Don't worry, Mother. We'll get everything straightened out tomorrow."

"Everything?" she asked.

Nick understood her meaning. He nodded. "Everything."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

When he woke up the next morning, Jarrod realized he didn't have a razor or any other grooming items. He thought hard about other things he needed – it was hard to think of everything when everything you owned needs to be replaced. He was able to get a razor and toothbrush from the hotel, so he was at least presentable when he made his way out into the world, even if his suit was much the worse for wear.

He went to his office first, before his secretary or any of the other attorneys she worked for came in. When he unlocked his door and went in, he found a telegram tucked under the door. He picked it up and read it.

It was from Heath. It said they had gotten word of the fire and needed to know that he was all right. Jarrod figured this telegram crossed with the one he'd sent saying he was all right. He put the telegram into the inside pocket of his jacket and wrote out a note to his secretary, saying he was wiring his family again and then going to his tailor and to see how the investigation of the fire was going.

As he traveled to the telegraph office, he wondered what he was going to say in that wire to his family. He'd been much too brief in the wire the night before, and he knew he needed to say more. He hoped the news of the fire was making some difference in their strained relationship. Along the way, he changed the hope to an expectation. When he got to the telegraph office he wrote out the message, _Not hurt. House total loss. Staying at Baldwin. More later._ Then, he added, _Don't worry. Love Jarrod._

He decided that would do the trick and he headed for his tailor's again.

An hour after he arrived there, he left with a new pair of casual pants and the promise of a new suit by the end of the week. From there, he went back to his room at the Baldwin, changed into the casual pants and shirt and gathered up the suit and shirt he'd come to town wearing, leaving them to be cleaned.

From the Baldwin he went back to the site of the fire and found everything pretty much the same as he had found it the day before. Lindon the investigator was still there and approached him as soon as he saw him.

"Anything new?" Jarrod asked.

Lindon nodded. "it was a gas leak."

 _Well, at least it's not somebody trying to kill me_ , Jarrod thought to himself. That was comforting, and not just because for once, no one was trying to kill him. It also meant his insurance claim wouldn't be denied due to criminal activity. "When will clean-up start?"

"Tomorrow. I assume you'll want to go through to see if there's anything intact that you want," Lindon said.

Jarrod nodded.

"It's too dangerous for you to root around in there, so what we'll do is remove the rubble out into the street where you can go through it, and then we'll have it hauled away, all bit by bit. I hope you're not too busy otherwise."

Jarrod said, "No, not at the moment, since I wasn't planning to be in San Francisco in the first place. I'll leave you to your work and come back tomorrow morning. If you need me, contact my office or the Baldwin Hotel."

XXXXX

As Jarrod was leaving the site of the fire, his brothers were arriving at the telegraph office in Stockton, preparing to send a wire to his office. But as they came in the door, the telegrapher waved a sheet of paper at them. "This just came in," he said. "It's from your brother."

Nick quickly grabbed it, and he and Heath both read it – and breathed easier. At least now they knew where he was. "This will make Mother feel a lot better," Heath said.

"We better tell Fred and then head straight home," Nick said.

Nick thanked the telegrapher, and he and Heath headed straight over to the sheriff's office. They heard the noise before they even went in and correctly attributed it to the Robinson boys acting up. They heard the sheriff yell, "Keep it quiet in here or the judge will hear about it!" When they got inside, the sheriff was closing the cell block door.

"Morning, Fred," Heath said.

Sheriff Madden rolled his eyes at them. "I hope this is the last time either of you override Jarrod's legal advice," he said. "He had a valid point."

Heath looked at Nick seriously. "Maybe we ought to talk to Mother and Audra about dropping the charges. With everything else going on..."

"Do it fast," the sheriff said. "They get arraigned this afternoon and after that it'll be up to the court and not me."

"Just wanted to let you know we found Jarrod," Nick said. "He's staying at the Baldwin Hotel in San Francisco."

Sheriff Madden nodded. "Good. That's one less thing I have to worry about."

"We'll go talk to Mother and Audra. What time is the arraignment?"

"Three. Come spring them before that, will you?"

"We'll see what Mother and Audra want to do," Heath said.

They left the office and were back home in a bit less than an hour. Nick yelled his traditional greeting, and after his mother chastised him again for yelling in the house, they gave her Jarrod's telegram. Victoria relaxed visibly. "Thank heaven he's all right and he has someplace to stay."

"Mother, we talked to Fred Madden in town," Nick said. "We think maybe you ought to drop the charges against the Robinson boys. They've been in jail for a few days. That's punishment enough. And Jarrod was probably right. We let it go, this will probably be the end of it."

"But if you're gonna do it, we have to go back in right now before they get arraigned this afternoon," Heath added.

Victoria called for Audra, and she came into the foyer from the kitchen. "Fred Madden thinks we should drop the charges against the Robinsons, and we have to go now."

"I'll get ready," Audra said

Then Heath said, "We ought to go to San Francisco on the overnight train, Nick, and see if we can help Jarrod out."

"Yes," Victoria said immediately, and her sons took it as an order. Then she and Audra went right upstairs to change and go to town.

"I'll let McCall know what we're doing," Heath said.

"I'll go pack some things for Jarrod and then for myself," Nick said and headed upstairs.

Heath watched him briefly, feeling better now about everything. Nick's anger with Jarrod had disappeared. With a quick thank-you to the Barkley guardian angels, Heath ran outside to send Ciego off to tell McCall he was in charge, and then Heath ran upstairs to pack his own bag.

XXXXXXX

Jarrod went to the café close to his home and for a while just sat, drinking coffee and making a list of things he needed to get. Money was the first thing – he was running low. Then there were all kinds of personal items, including some decent aftershave. He also needed some work gloves, for when he'd be sifting through the rubble of his home for anything salvageable. He'd need a pair of boots to work in. He could have his dress boots shined at the hotel once he got the work boots.

Jarrod was a frequent visitor to this café, so they knew him. As the waitress filled his coffee cup and noticed he was finished with his list, she said, "We all heard about your house, Mr. Barkley. We're so sorry, but we're glad you're all right."

"Fortunately, I wasn't there at the time," Jarrod said. "My one piece of good luck in the last couple days."

"I assume you'll rebuild."

"Yes, but that's going to take some time."

"Going back to Stockton, then?"

Jarrod wondered about that. He still didn't know if he would be welcome there, but then he needed to be here for a while anyway. "Not yet. Too much to do here. You'll see me around now and then."

She smiled. "Good."

Jarrod finished off his coffee and paid his bill. Then, taking his note in hand, he headed for the bank. After that, shopping for what he needed and then, he thought, a bath and a haircut. The plan made him smile. Not a bad way to spend the day.

XXXXXXX

While Jarrod was picking out new work boots, the rest of his family was in the sheriff's office. Victoria and Audra signed papers dropping the charges against the Robinson boys, making the sheriff very happy. "I'll let you folks get a head start out the door before I turn them loose and send them home."

Nick said, "Heath and I are taking the late train to San Francisco to find Jarrod and see if we can help him out."

"Give him my best. If you need me for anything, you know where I am."

After they went out the door to the surrey in the street, Nick and Heath each grabbed their bags from the back after helping their mother and sister in. Victoria took the reins, saying, "I want to hear from you the minute you get there."

"We'll wire as soon as we get in and again when we find Jarrod," Heath said.

Victoria leveled her gaze on Nick. "I trust the first thing you will do is tell him we've dropped the charges on the Robinsons and make peace with your brother."

Nick nodded. "I'll take care of it. Don't worry."

"Maybe you'd better drop by his office here and let his secretary know what's going on," Audra suggested.

"Not a bad idea," Victoria said, "but he probably left her a note and she hasn't come in. Stop by her house."

"Will do," Nick said.

As the women drove away, Heath sighed. "Well, we've got a few hours to kill. Shall we take these bags over to the depot and buy our tickets?"

"Good idea," Nick said, and they headed for the train depot.

XXXXXXX

In San Francisco, Jarrod headed out to buy gloves and boots. Once the gloves and boots were purchased, he stopped for lunch at a café near the hotel. He ordered a hot roast beef sandwich and sipped on coffee brought to him by a pretty young waitress, who smiled and moved on to another customer. That was when Jarrod's carefully planned day fell apart, and the lives of his brothers began to change completely.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Jarrod saw it coming, but his mind at first refused to believe it. The young waitress was waiting on a rough looking man at a table about ten feet away. Jarrod could see the man's face – hard and angry, and it got worse as he sipped at the coffee the waitress had just poured. The man spat it out and yelled, "This is too dammed hot!" as he threw the coffee into the woman's face.

The young waitress screamed and fell away, back against the wall. Jarrod started up, but so did the man who had thrown his coffee. The man was heading for the door but would have to go by Jarrod. Jarrod tackled him, holding on as best he could to the man's legs as they both went down on the floor.

The man started kicking at Jarrod, hitting him twice, hard in the head. After that, everything was crazy pictures and sounds and Jarrod didn't know what was happening, except to think, _I'm hurt_. And then he scrambled to try to get up, to get at the man again, but by then two other men had grabbed the guy and wrestled him out the door.

Jarrod couldn't get up. He reached for his head, and his hand came away bloody. People reached for him, asking if he was all right. People said things. The poor waitress was screaming and crying. Jarrod heard the word "hospital" and then he was being carried out the front door. He could hear voices talking, and the woman screaming was closer to him. He wished she would stop but he knew she couldn't. The man had thrown steaming coffee into her face. She was in incredible pain.

That was all Jarrod understood until some man's voice said to him, "Don't try to get up. I think you have a concussion and you need to keep still for a while, because if you try to get up, you will fall down."

"The waitress," Jarrod said. "She was burned. The waitress."

"Don't you worry about the waitress," the man said again. "She's here at the hospital, too. They're taking care of her."

Jarrod groaned and opened his eyes, but everything was spinning so fast he couldn't make anything out. He closed his eyes again. "My boots – " he said without knowing he was saying it out loud.

"Your boots? They're on your feet."

"I just bought work boots."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I don't know where they are."

"Where am I?"

"In the hospital. You just rest and try to stay awake. You have a concussion."

"My secretary – need to send a note to my secretary."

"Already done, Mr. Barkley. We found business cards in your wallet. You're gonna be all right, but for now, you need to stay still and concentrate on staying awake."

Then Jarrod heard the man talking to someone else. Try to stay awake, the man had said. Jarrod really didn't want to stay awake, but he knew he had to if he had a concussion.

A woman's voice said soothingly, "I'm going to keep giving you a shake now and then to keep you awake, Mr. Barkley. You're going to be all right, but you need to stay with us for a while."

 _My family,_ Jarrod thought. "Somebody needs to notify my family."

"The doctor asked your secretary to notify anyone who needs to be notified," the kindly woman's voice said. "You just lie still for a while."

"Okay," Jarrod said. And then he thought, _my house and me and what else can go wrong?_

XXXXXXX

While Jarrod was being cared for at the hospital in San Francisco, his brothers were finishing off a beer at Harry's saloon. They still had a few hours to kill before the train would leave, so they relaxed by joining in a game of poker going on at one of the tables. They weren't having much luck. After about a half hour of trying, they got up.

And Nick thought of something. "You know, we haven't told Jarrod we were coming."

"I know," Heath said. "Guess we ought to do that."

"Let's go over to the telegraph office. Maybe he'll have sent us another message."

"Maybe we ought to tell him we dropped the charges against the Robinsons, too."

"It'll probably make him mad all over again because we didn't listen to him in the first place."

"I expect he's got other things on his mind now, Nick."

They went over to the telegraph office, where they found the telegrapher handing a wire to one of his runners. He looked up and saw the Barkleys, and he took the wire back, saying, "You two are reading my mind a lot these days. This is from your brother's secretary. It's important."

He handed the wire to Nick, who read it with Heath looking over his shoulder. Their stomachs sank. The wire said, _Jarrod injured in assault. In St. Francis hospital. Concussion_.

"Oh, geez," Nick moaned. He handed the wire back to the runner. "Take this out to our place. Tell my mother and sister we're going to San Francisco as planned and we'll find Jarrod when we get there. Steve – " Nick spoke to the telegrapher next. "Wire a reply that Heath and I will be on the overnight train."

"Got it," the telegrapher said as the runner headed out the door.

Nick and Heath looked at each other, baffled and distraught. "Our Jarrod ain't having a whole lot of luck these days, is he?" Heath asked.

Nick shook his head, and in that movement, Heath saw Nick's guilt over all of this was coming back up. He followed Nick out the door.

"This isn't your fault, Nick," Heath said quickly.

Nick stopped in the street. "I'm the one ran him off to San Francisco."

"You didn't blow up his house. He'd be there anyway because of that."

"Not yet, he wouldn't."

"Well, if things come in threes, Jarrod has had all three – your argument, his house, and now this assault. His luck ought to be turning."

"Maybe we can help it turn once we get there." Nick checked his watch. "We still have three hours to kill."

"Why don't we go fill Fred in on what's happening? He'll want to know."

"Here's hoping the Robinsons are gone by now."

Nick and Heath went straight to the sheriff's office and found it blessedly empty of everyone but the sheriff, and he was smiling. At least until Nick started talking.

"Fred, we just got another wire from Jarrod's secretary in San Francisco," Nick said as soon as they came in the door. "Jarrod's been attacked. He's in the hospital."

"Good night," Fred Madden said. "What in the world is going on with you Barkleys?"

"Nothing good," Heath said. "We're taking the overnight train."

"Here's hoping it doesn't derail," Nick grumbled.

Sheriff Madden said, "Well, one piece of good news. The Robinsons left. I gave them a good talking to about staying out of trouble and leaving your family alone. I think it took. Do you need me to run out to the house?"

"We sent the wire from Jarrod's secretary out there," Heath said. "Mother and Audra will be upset, but we'll wire them as soon as we see Jarrod tomorrow. He's in St. Francis Hospital."

"Is he hurt bad?"

"Concussion."

Sheriff Madden sighed. "That could be really bad or next to nothing. I'll run out to the ranch as soon as my deputy gets back from rounds."

"Thanks, Fred," Nick said. "We'll let you know what we find out about Jarrod, too. And of course, there's still his house to deal with."

"You don't think the attack on him had anything to do with his house blowing up, do you?"

Nick shrugged. "We don't know yet. It doesn't sound like it, but there's too much we don't know until we get there."

"You give him my best when you see him, and let me know right away if there's anything I can do from here."

Nick and Heath nodded and then left. They stopped in the street, looking around, thinking, worrying.

Heath said, "We best get some food into us before that train leaves."

Nick nodded. "Let's run by Jarrod's secretary's house first, let her know what's going on. Gad, we could fill a newspaper with what's happening with him these days."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Jarrod? Jarrod?"

The fog lifted at the sound of his name, and he realized with a start that he had fallen asleep. He jumped. Hands held him down.

"Take it easy there, Pappy, you're all right."

Pappy? Nobody called him that except his brothers. Jarrod opened his eyes and, happily, focused on two familiar faces. "That's more like it," Heath said. "How are you feeling?"

Jarrod didn't know how they had gotten there or even what day it was. He only knew his head hurt. He reached and found a bandage.

Nick took hold of his arm and pulled it gently down. "You gave us a scare, big brother."

Jarrod took a deep breath. "When did you get here?"

"Just now," Nick said. "Got in on the overnight train. We stopped by your office to tell your secretary we were here to look after you."

"What day is it?"

"The day after you got clobbered."

"We got here as fast as we could," Heath said.

Jarrod looked confused for a bit longer, but then his foggy eyes cleared. "My house – "

"We'll head over there in a bit," Nick said.

Jarrod reached. Heath took his hand. "There was a girl – a waitress – a man threw coffee in her face and she was burned – she's here in the hospital, too. Can you find her, see how she is?"

"All right, we'll find her, as soon as we're sure you're still with us," Heath said.

"I'm all right," Jarrod said, closing his eyes again. "Head hurts, that's all."

"So you got kicked in the head helping a pretty girl, huh?" Nick asked.

"Looks like it," Jarrod said. "I fell asleep. I wasn't supposed to fall asleep."

"You're all right," Heath said. "The doctor said you could probably go home today or tomorrow."

Jarrod chuckled a little. "Does he know I don't have a home to go to?"

Nick said, "We're gonna take care of that for you, too. We'll find you a place to rent for a while that's better than a hotel room. We'll dig up your insurance man and work things out with him."

Jarrod sighed. "I'm awfully glad you're here. Now, go, please, go and find that waitress. I don't know her name. Just find her and let me know how she is. I'm afraid she's burned."

"Okay, we'll find her," Nick said.

Jarrod heard Heath talk to Nick, saying something like "I'll go check on her, you stay with Jarrod. I don't think we ought to leave him alone."

"I'm all right," Jarrod said.

"Yeah, you look great," Nick said. "A nice big bandage and a nice big bruise spreading all over the side of your face. You're downright pretty."

Jarrod opened his eyes to see Heath leave but Nick stay behind. He saw Nick sit down in a chair next to him. He realized Nick had hold of his hand. Jarrod sighed again. "I'm glad you're here, Nick."

"I may be a blowhard at times, but this is where I want to be, Jarrod," Nick said. "I'm sorry for that battle we had."

"Me, too," Jarrod said. "Let's just call a peace treaty until we have at it over something else, all right?"

"The Robinson boys are out of jail," Nick said. "Mother and Audra dropped the charges."

Jarrod smiled. "That's good. I'd gloat if my head didn't hurt so bad."

"That's what you get for playing the hero."

"A knee-jerk reaction. The s.o.b. threw hot coffee into her face – I wasn't gonna let him get out the door and disappear. They got him, didn't they?"

"I don't know. We can check on that later."

"Do Mother and Audra know what happened?"

"Not all the details, but yes. We'll wire them again in a bit. Right now, we'll wait and see what your doctor says about getting you out of here."

"If I have to be able to walk straight before they'll let me out, I might be here for a while."

"If you need to stay, you stay. We'll see to your house and find you someplace else to live. We can do that while you're in here."

"I'd just like to know that girl is all right. Her face is burned, Nick."

Nick understood everything that meant and why Jarrod was upset. A woman with a scarred face had little chance for a life in this world. No one would love her. No one would give her a job. "Heath will check on her, and we'll talk about her later. Don't worry. We'll work on everything and we'll get you walking straight and out of here."

Jarrod sighed and squeezed his brother's hand. "Thanks, Nick."

XXXXXXX

It took Heath a while, but he finally found who the waitress was and where she was. He tracked her down to a ward at the other end of the hospital from where Jarrod was, and he found her in a bed there. Her name was Priscilla Mills, and when he found her, she was lying with her eyes closed, her face unbandaged but red with burns that were covered with some kind of ointment. "Miss Mills?" Heath asked softly.

She opened her eyes. She looked confused. "Yes? Who are you?"

Heath sat down on a chair beside her. "My name is Heath Barkley. My brother Jarrod tried to catch the man who hurt you."

"Oh, yes," she said. "They told me about that. He's here in the hospital, isn't he? He was hurt."

"Concussion, but he's gonna be all right," Heath said.

"That's good," she said.

"He was worried about you. He wanted me to see how you were."

She sighed, but she didn't say anything. Heath realized she didn't know how to answer. She probably understood her face was burned and what that meant.

Heath felt terrible for her. "Is there anyone I can talk to for you? Any family or people you work for?"

She shook her head. "No family. The people I work for have already been here. They're decent people, but they won't hold my job for me. They can't afford to, and even after I get better – well, you can see how it is."

Heath found himself taking her hand. Her face was red in ugly splotches where the hot coffee had hit her. What was going to happen to her? No family, no job, no nothing.

Heath said, "My brother lives here in San Francisco – well, at least until his house blew up the other day – "

Her eyes flew open. "His house blew up?"

Heath chuckled a little. "Brother Jarrod is having a run of bad luck, it seems. He wouldn't have even been in your café except he was staying at the Baldwin because of his house – but sometimes bad luck can have some good in it."

"I don't see how this is good for either one of us, Mr. Barkley," Priscilla said.

"Call me Heath," he said.

"Call me Cilla, then," she said.

"Listen," Heath said. "Our brother Nick and I are gonna be here for a while looking after Jarrod. We'll be happy to see about helping you along, too. We're not gonna leave you high and dry – not after our brother got a couple kicks in the head because he cared about you."

"Heath, you don't have to worry about me," Cilla said.

"Worry isn't the right word," Heath said. "Concern, maybe. You're not alone, Cilla. We won't let you be alone."

Tears started coming, and she squeezed her eyes closed as she began to shake with sobbing. Heath squeezed her hand, and he thought as he did that there was something special about this girl. Young and alone, and yes, afraid, but not paralyzed. Something about her was not driven into the ground by an injury that could ruin her life, just because it disfigured her face, at least not yet. "Thank you," she said.

Heath couldn't help smiling a little. He didn't say anything, he just squeezed her hand.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Cilla drifted off to sleep while Heath was with her. He found out from her doctor that she would be there for at least another night. Heath asked her nurse to tell Cilla he would be back later in the day, and then he returned to the ward where Jarrod was.

Heath told Jarrod about Cilla, and that seemed to ease Jarrod's mind quite a bit. He drifted off to sleep fairly quickly. "Is he doing all right?" Heath asked after Jarrod faded away.

"Yeah, the doctor was here, said it was all right for Jarrod to sleep if he wanted to," Nick said. "They'll keep him one more night. I told him we'd be off to wire Mother and Audra and find him a better place to live as soon as you got back. How long is this waitress gonna be here?"

Heath said, "She'll be here another night, too. She's burned pretty bad on the face, Nick. We need to try to help her out, too."

Nick got up from the chair. "All right, we'll figure that out. Let's get going. We got a lot of work to do."

XXXXXXX

Victoria read the telegram one more time, the one saying that Jarrod had been attacked. She was worried sick, waiting and waiting for more word from Nick and Heath, but it was after they had seen Jarrod at the hospital that they wired home again. _Jarrod recovering. Hospital til tomorrow. Will look after his house and wire later. Nick._

"Well, thank heaven, that's something," Victoria said as Audra read over her shoulder.

"I wonder what happened," Audra said. "Why did someone attack him?"

"We'll find out why later," Victoria said.

"Do you think we ought to go to San Francisco?"

Victoria shook her head. "Not just yet. Not until we hear more from Nick and Heath. For now, he's all right and Nick and Heath are looking after him and his house. And maybe his bad luck will end."

XXXXXXX

After sending the wire home, Nick and Heath went to the site of Jarrod's house and got the contact information for Jarrod's insurance man. The clean-up of the property was beginning. Nick and Heath wondered what to do about that.

"We need to be too many places," Nick said. "We need to find him a place to live but we need to be here to go through this rubble, too."

"Tell you what," Heath said. "Let me go run down the insurance man and see if he can help us find a place for Jarrod to live, and I'll go looking for that. You stay here, help go through this stuff. I know he'll want his safe found, and probably any papers that don't look damaged."

"That won't be hard – there probably aren't any," Nick said.

"Well, if you find that safe today or anything else worth salvaging, we'll take it to his office. If I have time, there's something else I want to do – check that place where the waitress worked, see if I can find out where she lives, maybe line up some help for her when she gets out of the hospital."

"That's a whole long list of things there, Heath."

Heath sighed. "Yeah, it is, so I better get going. I'll be back here between four and five, so meet me here then, okay?"

"All right."

A big load was taken off Heath's shoulders when he found the insurance man. Painter was alarmed when Heath explained what had happened. "Good Lord, I had no idea he was in the hospital. Attacked, you say?"

"Trying to stop a man who had injured a waitress at a café," Heath explained. "He'll be all right. Probably be out of the hospital tomorrow, but we need a better place than a hotel room to take him to."

"Well," Painter said, "it just so happens I've been trying to find him to talk to him about that. I've found a rental only two blocks from his home, comparable property, decent lease and rent. I just need him to sign off on the paperwork."

"Mind if I go have a look at the place real quick?"

"Not at all." Painter handed him an envelope. "Here's the lease agreement. It will be in the insurance company's name, but we need him to agree to us doing it. Is he fit to sign off?"

"I'll talk to him about it. I'm sure he will be tomorrow if not today."

"Is anyone going through the rubble as it's cleared away?"

Heath nodded. "Our brother Nick. He knows what to look for. We'll have whatever he pulls aside be taken to Jarrod's office."

"I'll notify his secretary for you."

"Thanks. Oh, one other thing. The waitress Jarrod was trying to help – she'll need some help herself when she gets out of the hospital. She doesn't have any family. Nick and I will arrange and pay for it, but do you have anybody your company uses for anything like this? I'm out of my element here."

Painter nodded again. "Tell my secretary as you leave. She'll give you a couple names. It's kind of you to take care of that."

Heath felt a funny little lift inside when he thought about the girl – stupid, he thought, to feel that way when he'd hardly met her, and when her life was in such ruin. But it was the way she made him feel. "She seems like a special girl. Jarrod was hurt trying to help her. The least we can do is keep it up for him."

Thanks to Painter, Heath's list of chores was ticked off pretty quickly. He got three names of nurses who would work with someone at home from Painter's secretary. He checked out the rental house Painter had gotten for Jarrod. Looking through the window, he could see it was furnished and Heath decided it would do the trick. He checked with the café where the waitress worked and found out she lived in a boarding house close to the café. He checked it out with the landlady. Her room was small, but there was a communal living room and kitchen. Heath figured if it would not accommodate a visiting nurse, he would find her something more suitable. He knew she probably couldn't pay for anything at all anymore, not without a job, but he knew he could, at least for a while.

Heath checked out the nurses Painter's office had suggested. They were not far away from Cilla's place, and Heath met and talked to all three of them within two hours. He made his choice – a woman about Nick's age who was personable and was available for quite some time. Her name was Hilda Clay, and she had very good references. Heath didn't have time to check them out, but he recognized one of the names as an attorney Jarrod had worked with, and with that and Painter's recommendation, Heath was satisfied. She had a standard contract that Heath reviewed and found perfectly good, so he signed and gave her one of Jarrod's cards, writing his name and Nick's on the back. "I'll be in touch tomorrow as soon as we find out when she's going home, but be ready for it to be tomorrow," Heath told her.

"I'll be ready," she said.

Heath was back where Nick was working at Jarrod's ruined house before four. Covered with sweat and ash and standing beside a wagon where the safe, among precious few other things, was sitting, Nick looked surprised to see him. "Back already?"

Heath nodded. "I'm just very efficient, Nick."

"Then get some gloves on and help me out here."

Heath laughed but did as Nick asked. The work went twice as fast but there was very little more that was salvageable, at least in this day's load. By the time the workmen left, they had five wagonloads of debris to Nick and Heath's one half of a wagonload of saved books and paper, plus the safe. Nick and Heath drove the wagon to Jarrod's office, unlocked the door and took the safe and other material up there. After a quick bite for dinner, they went back to the hospital.

Jarrod was actually up and around. They found him in the hall, walking slowly with a cane but walking. "Well, look at you!" Nick said. "Just about good as new again!"

Jarrod smiled a little. "I went down to see Cilla Mills. She's feeling a bit better too. The police came to talk to her while I was there, so they were happy to kill two birds with one stone. And it looks like we'll both be out of here tomorrow morning."

"Good," Nick said.

"Jarrod, I hope you don't mind but I told Cilla we'd help her out, and I've hired a nurse to help her for a while," Heath said. "She's lost her job. I think she'll need help paying the rent."

"I don't mind, but will she?" Jarrod said. "Does she know what you've been up to?"

"Not the details, but if she objects, I'll back off. I'll go see her and then I'll be back up here, all right? Oh, and I've got some papers for you to sign about the new house the insurance company is renting for you."

Heath took off as he finished the last sentence. Jarrod gave him a wave and had to smile, watching him. "Our Heath is smitten."

Nick said, "What makes you say that?"

"I know the look," Jarrod said. "It's not that he feels bad for her – though he does. But something about that young lady is charming, even now. She's just Heath's type."

"Really?" Nick said. "Not my type?"

"Not at all," Jarrod said and began to walk back to his room.

"I hope she doesn't shoot him down, then," Nick said as they walked together. "Heath has a tendency to 'take care' of pretty girls."

Jarrod chuckled. "He does at that, but he understands if they object and he'll mind his own business if they tell him to."

Nick kept the slow pace with him. "How are you feeling?"

"All right as long as I don't push it too fast or too hard," Jarrod said. "Headache is easing off. But I'm gonna have to depend on you and Heath to help salvage anything from my house. I'm on restricted duty for the next ten days."

"We'll take care of it," Nick said. "Those new digs we got you ought to do you fine. It's a house not far from yours."

"Good, thanks. You can have my room at the Baldwin tonight. The key is in my pants pocket. Have you wired Mother and Audra about what's happened?"

"Yeah, and we'll wire again in the morning. Get you moved over to the new place tomorrow and stay with you there."

"I'll appreciate the company."

They went back into the ward where Jarrod's bed was. He gave a moan as he climbed back in.

"Head hurt?" Nick asked.

"Yeah," Jarrod said, "that and I was just reminded of the army."

Nick chuckled. "Hospitals, or winter quarters?"

"Both," Jarrod sighed.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

When Heath looked in on Cilla, he found her sitting up in bed and reading a book. "Well, don't you look a lot better?" Heath said and came closer.

She smiled. What a beautiful smile, despite the red blotches and ointment-covered face. "I thought I might have been dreaming you, Heath. Thank you for coming back."

Heath sat down in the chair beside the bed. "Thought I'd better tell you what I've been doing. I found out where you live and I ran by the place, mainly because I wanted to see if it would work out if I sent a visiting nurse to help you out for a while."

Cilla looked alarmed. "Heath, I don't have a job, I don't even know where I'm going to end up living and I can't afford a nurse – "

"Don't worry about any of that," Heath said. "We can help you out for a while, til you get back on your feet."

She still looked almost afraid. "Heath, I'm not sure how I'm ever going to get back on my feet. I mean, look at me – " She started to cry at the thought of how she looked.

Heath took her hand. "Take it easy. I know you don't know me from anyone else, but my family has means. We'll help you find your way. Like I told you, you're not alone."

Cilla couldn't even wipe her tears without irritating the burns on her face, so she didn't even try. Heath wondered how she was bearing up under the pain of the burns, but at least they were not blistering badly and the ointment was probably helping.

"Let us help you, at least for a while," Heath said. "You've had a bad enough time of it."

She shook her head and got control of herself. "Why are you doing this? I mean – " She stumbled on how to ask what she wanted to know. "What do you want from me?"

"Nothing," Heath said quickly. "You can check into the Barkleys. We're a good family from Stockton. My brother Jarrod lives here in San Francisco, and he's a respected attorney. Ask anybody. And I don't want anything. I just want to help."

She sighed heavily. She believed him, in spite of herself. Men never gave anything without wanting something in return that she did not want to give, but this Heath seemed different. Besides – what kind of choice did she really have? When he smiled his lopsided smile for her, she was just about hooked. "All right."

"You'll have a nurse to help you when you get home, hopefully tomorrow, and I'll help you get there," Heath said.

"What about your brother? Won't he be going home soon too?"

"Yes, but my brother Nick will take charge of him. We got him a new place to live today, so he'll be all right, too."

Cilla nodded, and then she just said, "Thank you, Heath."

Heath smiled a little broader. "You're welcome."

XXXXXXX

Nick and Heath went to Jarrod's room at the Baldwin for the night. It was small but the bed was a double and they would be all right for one night. Besides, they were so tired they'd sleep in the broom closet if they had to.

"So, you'll take care of the waitress – what's her name?" Nick asked as they finished cleaning up a bit and climbed into bed.

"Cilla Mills," Heath said. "Yeah, I'll get her home and get the visiting nurse in, then I'll catch up with you at Jarrod's place."

"Come to the old place," Nick said. "I'll still be sifting through the rubble."

"You know, one of us ought to stay with Jarrod. He'll be in a new place and I'm not sure all his marbles are back where they ought to be."

"All right," Nick sighed. "I'll get him home safe and wait for you to get there after getting Cilla home, and then we'll decide who's going to work at the old place."

"We need to wire Mother and Audra about what's happening, too. They might want to come here once Jarrod is settled."

"We'll wire them on the way to the hospital in the morning, and if they want to come, you know we can't stop them."

Heath heaved a sigh. "I hope big brother is through with all these catastrophes."

"Me, too."

"You and he have made peace, haven't you?"

"Yeah, we're fine, til the next time."

They stopped talking for a moment, and in less than a minute, Heath heard Nick begin to snore. The man had been working hard all day – no wonder he was exhausted. Kind of too bad he fell asleep so fast, though. Heath wanted to talk a bit more about Cilla. He wanted Nick to meet her. He wasn't exactly sure why, but he wanted it, and Heath fell asleep thinking about that.

XXXXXXX

A runner brought the telegram Nick and Heath sent the next morning to the Barkley house at about ten. Victoria and Audra read it eagerly. It gave a new address for Jarrod, and said he'd be released and going there sometime during the day. "We should go to San Francisco," Audra said right away.

But Victoria said, "No, I think it's best we wait a day or two, let Nick and Heath get Jarrod settled first. We can go later if they need us."

"I hope Nick and Jarrod have made up by now."

"I'm sure they have. I'm just sorry it took such drastic events for it to happen."

XXXXXXX

After they sent the telegram off, Nick and Heath split up, Nick going to the hospital to check on Jarrod and Heath going to the home of the visiting nurse he had hired for Cilla. Hilda Clay was ready to go at a moment's notice. Heath said, "I guess you pretty much live ready to take off on a job."

Hilda smiled. "Pretty much. This young lady knows I'm going to be taking care of her?"

"Yes, I talked to her yesterday. She's still in the hospital right now but should be released today."

Hilda had a bag of supplies she always took with her. She picked it up, saying, "Well, let's go, in case they're waiting for us."

XXXXXXXX

Nick arrived at the hospital just as Jarrod's doctor was examining him. The bandage was off and Nick got a look at Jarrod's injuries for the first time – two nasty gashes and a lot of bruising.

But the doctor said, "Not bad, not bad." Then he moved his finger in front of Jarrod's eyes and had him watch it. "Any dizziness today?"

"No," Jarrod said. "Just a bit unsteady."

"Nausea?"

"None."

"Good, good. Now, Mr. Barkley, do you have somewhere to go to other than a hotel room?"

"He's renting a new house until his is rebuilt," Nick said.

"Good, good."

It sounded like everything was good, good.

"I'll have the nurse rebandage that wound, and then you can get dressed and we'll sign you out of here," the doctor said. "See your regular doctor in three or four days and keep an eye on those wounds. Boots that kick you in the head are full of germs, but you're not showing any signs of infection. Let's keep it that way."

"Thanks, Doc," Jarrod said as the doctor left. Then, to Nick, "Where's Heath? Taking care of Miss Mills?"

"Yeah," Nick said. "He's gone to get that visiting nurse he hired and then he plans to help get her home."

"Why don't you take a minute and go meet that young lady yourself? But remember, Heath saw her first."

"Actually, you saw her first."

"She's far too young for me. And for you, for that matter, although that never stopped you."

"All right, all right. I'll go look in on her and be back up here in a while. Don't leave without me."

"I can't. You haven't given me the address of my new house, and I'm thinking you checked me out of the Baldwin."

"We did. You sit tight. I'll be back."

Jarrod stayed where he was on the edge of the bed, waiting for the nurse to come give him a new bandage. He realized he hadn't mentioned to Nick or Heath that he was having his suit and dress shirt cleaned at the Baldwin and he had socks and underwear there, or that he'd lost track of the new boots and gloves he'd bought right before the attack at the café. Thinking about all those details started to make his head hurt, so he put them away for later.

Nick went out and after asking the right people, found the ward where Cilla Mills was and then found her. His heart went out to her the moment he saw her. Her face was covered with red blotches and lots of ointment, and when she looked at him it was with a lot of apprehension. Nick smiled quickly. "Hi, there. Are you Miss Mills?"

"Yes," she said cautiously.

"I'm Nick Barkley, Heath's brother."

She smiled. What a nice smile, Nick thought, even under all that damage. "I was expecting Heath."

"He's coming. He's gotten a visiting nurse for you and he's gone to pick her up and bring her here."

"I can't believe how kind you're all being," she said, shaking her head. "First your brother gets hurt and put in the hospital helping me, and now your other brother is getting me a nurse to help me out."

"Well, we're a helpful bunch," Nick said. "Have you seen the doctor yet this morning?"

"Not yet, but yesterday they said they'd let me go home today, so I'm anxious to get out of here."

"Can't say I blame you."

"How is your brother who helped me at the café?"

"He's going home today, too. I suppose you heard his house had burned down."

"I did, but I hear he's renting another one."

"Well, the insurance company is. Heath and I came to help him with the damage to his house, but him being in the hospital kind of took priority."

Heath came in, alone, smiling his lopsided smile that Cilla was rapidly growing fond of. "I see you're moving in on my girl, Nick."

Cilla laughed a little at Heath's "my girl" remark, but it made her feel good, even if it was just words.

"Not moving in," Nick said. "Just making sure you're taking good care of her."

Heath said, "I've brought the nurse with me. She's out there talking to the doctor and finding out what she needs to do for you, Cilla. Her name is Hilda Clay. She'll take good care of you."

"I still can't thank you enough," Cilla said. "I sure didn't do anything to deserve all this attention."

Nick just said, "Brother Heath is a softee."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

About an hour later, Nick was helping Jarrod into a hack to take them to Jarrod's new house. Jarrod was still moving a bit uncertainly, so he had a cane to keep him steady. Nick realized that Heath was right, one of them was going to have to stay with him for a few days, until he got his balance back at least.

"You know, I left some things at the Baldwin – some cleaning they were doing and a bunch of socks and underwear," Jarrod said as the hack moved out. "And I had a package at the café that seems to have disappeared – boots and gloves. I wouldn't mind getting them back."

"Heath and I will figure out how to get that stuff when he comes to the house. We're gonna make sure one of us is with you all the time today. You're still too rickety to leave alone."

"I'll be all right," Jarrod said. "Got my trusty cane."

"We can get Mother and Audra here by tomorrow if you want."

"Let's decide on that tomorrow. Hauling the whole family out here for one little kick in the head – "

"And one blown up house, or have you forgotten that?"

Jarrod sighed. "Wish I could forget it. I'm gonna have to get hold of the architect to arrange for rebuilding."

"You have an architect on call?" Nick asked, unbelieving.

"The one who's redone my office in Stockton is based here. He'll be able to help me out. I'll notify the insurance company. I'm sure they'll approve him."

"Well, that's something I think you're gonna have to leave for the future, too. You need another day or two to get your head screwed back on straight."

Jarrod closed his eyes. "Maybe you should have hired me a visiting nurse, too."

"We thought you'd object, you being as stubborn as a mule."

Jarrod opened one eye and eyed Nick with it. "I? Stubborn? Never."

They arrived at Jarrod's new place in about half an hour. Nick helped Jarrod out of the hack and took care of the driver. There were stairs up to the entrance, over a carriage house on the first floor – pretty typical for San Francisco. Nick kept hold of Jarrod's arm as he climbed, using the banister in one hand and the cane in the other for stability. Nick unlocked the door at the top and they went in.

There was yet another set of stairs going up to a second floor, and a living room, dining room and kitchen off to the left. The furnishings were not as nice as the ones Jarrod had lost, but they were good enough. Nick let Jarrod nose around on his own, and Jarrod checked out the rooms on this floor before he sat down in an armchair in the living room. "Good enough," he said. "Two bedrooms upstairs?"

"And a bath," Nick said. "And a servant's quarters off the kitchen. Another wc back there, too. It's not as big as your place, but it'll do."

"I'll need you to stock the icebox and pantry for me. And get my cleaning and my clothes from the Baldwin. I don't have anything except what I'm wearing – which reminds me, I need to get to my tailor's tomorrow. He should have another suit for me."

Nick heaved a sigh. "I brought a few things for you. We'll figure out the rest when Heath gets here." Which Nick hoped would be soon, what with all there was to do, because Jarrod hadn't yet mentioned eating lunch, and Nick's stomach was beginning to grumble.

XXXXXXXX

At about that same time, Heath was helping Cilla into her small room at a boarding house near the café. She had only the bedroom. There was a communal bath and a nice living room and kitchen area all the tenants in the house shared, but everything was very small. Hilda nosed around and checked everything out while Cilla sat down on the sofa in the living room.

"Well, I've seen smaller," she said, "but with this living room area, I think I'll be able to get you moving around pretty well fairly quickly, Cilla. You need to be doing that. It's amazing how fast you can get weak if you've been bedridden."

Heath nodded. "Cilla, what do you do for food here?"

"There's an icebox and pantry in the kitchen in the back there," Cilla said and pointed. "We label our food, but whatever I had in the ice box has probably gone bad."

"I'll throw out what isn't good and we might take a walk to that market down the street in a little while," Hilda said.

Cilla suddenly looked panic-stricken. "Go out? To the market?"

Heath and Hilda both understood what she was upset about – being seen in public with her burns on display. No one here was kidding themselves about what Cilla was going through. People were going to stare at her when she was out on the street. She was out of a job and she might never be able to get another one. The people here at the boarding house might even prove difficult. Nobody wanted to see a disfigured face, even if it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

"Would you like me to go with you?" Heath asked.

Cilla shook her head. "No. You need to see to your brother."

"Nick's got him taken care of. I can walk you ladies to the market if you like."

Hilda said, "Let me go have a look at that icebox," and she went into the kitchen.

Heath sat down next to Cilla on the sofa. It was an old sofa – lumpy and not very comfortable. Heath wished Cilla had someplace better to recuperate. "You really need to go see to your brother," Cilla said.

"I will, if that's what you want," Heath said, "but it really isn't necessary."

"I'd feel better, I think. I mean – I really like you, Heath, and I appreciate all you've done for me, but a man in this house – there might be some objection from the owner if you stay too long, and I'm probably going to have trouble paying the rent as it is. I have to start making my own way anyway, whatever that turns out to be. I don't want the first step to be finding a roof over my head because they've kicked me out of here."

"Whatever you want, Cilla," Heath said, "but do you mind if I come by later? I won't stay long when I come. I just want to see how you're doing."

Cilla nodded. "I'd like that."

Heath got up as Hilda was coming back in from the kitchen. "We'll get some things you need. Cilla, do you have much money here?"

"No," she said. "In fact, I don't have any."

Before she could protest, Heath took twenty dollars out of his money clip. "Here, this ought to hold you for a few days, get you some food."

"Oh, Heath – "

"No arguments," Heath said and smiled. "Hilda, I'll be back later. By then you and Cilla ought to have things here sorted out and we can talk about the next few days."

"All right," Hilda said. "I'm sure we'll be fine."

Heath nodded to them, tipping his hat, and left.

XXXXXXX

Nick was pleased to see Heath at the door when he responded to the knock. "Ah, good, you're here."

Heath came in, spotting Jarrod in an armchair by the fireplace.

Nick said, "I have a grocery list I need to go fill and somebody has to go to the Baldwin and pick up his laundry and go to that café near there where he was hurt – he left some boots and gloves there. Can you stay with Jarrod until I get back?"

"I really don't need a baby sitter," Jarrod said.

"The minute we leave you alone is when you'll fall down and can't get up," Heath said. "Yeah, I can stay."

"We'll eat when I get some food back here," Nick said and went out.

Heath took his hat off and left it on a small table by the door. As he sat down in another armchair on the other side of the fireplace, Heath said, "Got Cilla settled, but boy howdy, that place where she lives is pretty small. I need to go by there again later, see how they're making out."

"Miss Mills has you wrapped around her little finger, doesn't she?" Jarrod asked with a small grin.

Heath smiled back a little bit. "She's pretty special, you know? She's scared – she's lost her job and worried she won't get another one, worried she won't be able to keep her room at the boarding house – but she still keeps herself together."

Jarrod said, "So what is it you want to do about her? We really can't just up and leave her at some point, not if she's lost her job and her home."

"I know," Heath said. "I keep wondering how we can find her a job, but she's gonna be left with scarring on her face, or at least discoloration. She won't be able to find work in a café."

"I hear you, Heath."

"I don't suppose there's some agency or something that can help her find a job, some charity even."

Jarrod thought for a moment. "The only thing I know of is a Catholic church over in the Mission District. They help a lot of people over there, but it is a rough area."

"Maybe I ought to go over there and talk to them, see what they think. There's got to be something for a woman who can work but just has some burn scars on her face."

"We're a terrible society that way," Jarrod said. "We throw people away just because of scars on their face or some other thing that we don't think is 'right' about them."

"We gotta figure out a way that doesn't happen to Cilla."

Jarrod looked over at his younger brother. Heath was a man who cared about people who had been handed a bad lot in life. The Barkleys were a compassionate people, but Heath was even more so. Jarrod figured he got some of that from his mother. She must have been a very special woman. "You know, it's all right to be taken with Cilla, Heath. It's all right if you want her in your life. People might react badly, but that's never stopped you before. And you know the family won't have any problem if you find yourself smitten."

Heath smiled his lopsided smile. "She'd be easy to be smitten with. I just want her to have a life, Jarrod. She wants to make her own way, and she should be able to."

Jarrod closed his eyes and started thinking again. Then he had a thought. "You know, there actually may be one advantage to Cilla having burn scars on her face. If I were to hire her to keep my house here for me, good old San Francisco society probably won't think it's so improper. I mean, I've avoided having young women work in my house because people would see it the wrong way and object. But if she is disfigured, as Cilla is – they'll figure I couldn't possibly be keeping her as a mistress."

"Is that really true?" Heath asked, appalled that a society could think that way.

Jarrod nodded. "Sad, but true. San Francisco society can be very judgmental, and very harsh if you break the rules. Now if I were to hire Cilla, she'd have to live at my house, even when I'm in Stockton. I'd want her full time."

"What about Charles?"

Charles was Jarrod's houseman. "He only works part-time, when I'm there. Which reminds me, I'll have to get a message to him that I'm in town and we need to talk about things."

"You think he'd feel threatened by Cilla?"

"I'm thinking he might be out looking for another job, since my house burned down. Maybe you can get a message sent over to him for me, tell him this address and see if he can come in. Having Cilla full time and Charles when I'm here – I can work that out if need be. If Cilla is interested."

Heath smiled. "When Nick gets back and we eat, I'll get your message to Charles and go see Cilla. Jarrod, I appreciate this."

Jarrod waved a hand in the air. "Appreciate it if it works out. I mean, it really would be a good idea. I'd have somebody I need around the house here, and we'd still have Cilla in your life."

Jarrod gave Heath a wink. Heath smiled – and almost blushed.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

When Nick came back, it was with all the things he said he'd get, plus a telegram from Victoria. "Mother wants to know what's going on or she'll be here the day after tomorrow."

"What did you tell her?" Jarrod asked.

Nick dropped a package containing Jarrod's boots, underwear, socks and gloves on the floor, and he draped Jarrod's clean suit and dress shirt over the back of the sofa. Then he headed for the kitchen with the food he had bought. "Told her you were out of the hospital and doing fine," Nick said, his voice disappearing as he disappeared into the kitchen.

"Make some sandwiches and coffee," Jarrod said as loudly as he could muster. Then to Heath he said, "Why don't you go help him and talk to him about what we've thought about Cilla?"

Heath got up and went into the kitchen, where Nick was putting things away. He had left a loaf of bread out on the small kitchen table. "Slice some of that, will you?" Nick asked.

Heath found a breadknife and started slicing. "I want to talk to you about something."

"Yeah? About what?"

"About Jarrod and his house, and about Cilla Mills. I've been talking with Cilla a lot, and you can imagine how scared she is. Her face burned like that – she's lost her job and getting another one with her face scarred is gonna be tough."

Nick finished putting the food away and began to make coffee. "Yeah, I've been thinking about that, too."

"Jarrod and I have been talking. He thinks he can hire her to be his housekeeper, that San Francisco society won't get up in arms for him having a young woman living with him if she's disfigured."

Nick raised an eyebrow and chewed on that for a moment. "What about Charles?"

"I'm gonna get a message to him today and ask him to come here to talk to Jarrod, but Charles is only part-time. Cilla would be full time, and Charles would come like he does now, when Jarrod's in town."

"Brother Jarrod with two people waiting on him hand and foot," Nick mused. "He might get awful lazy."

Heath chuckled. "I doubt it. Anyway, I'm gonna go see Cilla this afternoon and talk to her about it."

"We're not gonna get much done sorting out the rubble in his house today."

"After I talk to Cilla, I'll go over there and put in some hours. You stay here with Jarrod. It'll all work out."

Nick got the coffee going and began to carve up a piece of roast beef for the sandwiches. "All right. Sounds like a plan." He fished into his pocket and pulled out a key. He looked at it to make sure it was the right one and handed it to Heath. "Here's the key to Jarrod's office. Get back here by six if you can. I plan to roast some chicken, and I did get a bottle of some good scotch. The three of us can talk about how the next few days are going to go. There's still a lot Brother Jarrod needs help with and we need to plan it out."

Heath looked suspicious. "You're cooking?"

Nick eyed him. "Yeah, I'm cooking. Got any complaints?"

"Not me," Heath said.

Nick kept on slicing the roast beef, saying, "I tell you what, though. This is the last time I throw Big Brother out after an argument."

Now Heath laughed. "Just don't argue with him while you're here. He can throw you out."

Nick stopped. "I hadn't thought about that."

XXXXXXX

Heath got the message to Charles sent off after lunch and then went straight to Cilla's boarding house. When he knocked on the door, a woman he did not know answered. Heath took off his hat and said, "Hello. My name is Heath Barkley. I'm here to see Cilla Mills."

The woman, who looked to be in her 40s or 50s, did not smile, but let him in, saying, "I'll let her know you're here. Please have a seat in the parlor."

Heath sat down. The sofa was darned uncomfortable, but he wasn't seated long before Cilla and Hilda Clay came in from Cilla's room. Heath was pleased to see Cilla up and around. He stood quickly, smiling, and when she smiled back his heart lifted up. "How are you doing?" he asked.

"Hilda has me up and around more, and I'm feeling stronger for it," Cilla said. "But I think I'll sit down while we talk."

Heath invited her to sit beside him on the sofa, while Hilda sat down in one of the armchairs. "Cilla's doing very well," she said. "It'll only be a few more days and she'll be strong enough to care for herself."

"How is your brother?" Cilla asked.

"Well, except for the bandage and the big purple blotch on the side of his face and that cane he's using, he looks like his old self," Heath said, chuckling a little. "He's doing well, but Nick and I are gonna be sure one of us is with him until he gets his balance back."

"His new house is working out?"

"Yeah, it's working out fine. And I wanted to talk to you about that and a few things, Cilla."

"What's that?" Cilla asked.

"Jarrod doesn't have a full time housekeeper, somebody who takes care of things while he's there and while he's away. He comes home to Stockton every few weeks and stays for a week or two when he does. He only has a part-time houseman who comes to the house when he's here in town. Cilla, we were wondering if you'd be interested in the full time position."

Cilla's eyes got big. Hilda smiled as if she had been expecting something like this and was pleased about it. When Cilla looked her way, she said, "It will be a week or so before Cilla is ready to take something like that on."

Heath nodded. "I understand. I don't think it'll be a problem, because Nick and I expect to be around until Jarrod can look after himself. He's having some problems with his balance. We'd like to get him more firmly on his feet before we let him on his own."

"So, I would live at his house?" Cilla asked.

"Yes," Heath said, "whether he's there or not. It'll be the rental he's in at first, then back to his house when it's rebuilt. If it sounds like something you're interested in, we could talk about all the duties before you – "

"Yes!" Cilla said before he even finished. "Yes, I'm definitely interested! But, are you sure – " She touched a part of her face that wasn't injured.

Heath understood what she was asking. "Well, Jarrod thinks any discoloration you might have would actually be an asset. Jarrod moves in high society here in San Francisco. The people in his neighborhood might have a problem with a young woman moving in with him – " And then Heath got stuck. How could he frame the last of it?

Now Cilla understood, and she was not upset by it. In fact, she was almost thrilled. " – unless she has a disfigurement. I can't believe it. I never thought my face being damaged might be a good thing."

"Well, in this case it probably is," Heath said. "Now, every now and then one or two of the rest of us in the family might come to Jarrod's place while he's still in Stockton. You've met me and Nick. Other than us, there are my mother and my sister, Audra. So you've really met the worst of us."

"Oh, I can't believe you're the worst of the Barkleys," Cilla said, and she smiled a beautiful smile.

Heath felt that little lift again. "Good. Hilda, we're gonna count on you to let us know when Cilla is ready to move."

"Soon, Mr. Barkley," Hilda said. "I'll help her get moved when the time comes."

Heath stood up. "All right, then. I'll let Jarrod and Nick know we're all set. You're making all of us awful happy, Cilla."

"No," Cilla said. "You're the one who's the answer to all my prayers. I don't know how to thank you." She reached to take Heath's hand.

Heath kissed her hand instead of just holding it. "I'll be checking in on you again tomorrow. In the meantime, you just get better and better."

Heath left, and Cilla found herself beaming to Hilda. "Oh, I can't believe it. To think Mr. Barkley would hire me!"

"I think the day you were hurt may turn out to be the best day of your life," Hilda said.

Cilla just shook her head, unbelieving. "I think you might be right."

XXXXXXXX

Jarrod had fallen asleep in the armchair by the fireplace but woke up when he heard the knock at the door. Nick heard it too, even though he was in the kitchen, and he came in as Jarrod was starting to get up. "I got it, I got it," Nick said.

Nick went to the front door and opened it. "Charles!" he said and let Jarrod's houseman in. "Good to see you. How've you been?"

"Very well, Mr. Barkley," Charles said as he came in. "How is your brother doing?"

"Fit as a fiddle," Jarrod said, standing up as Charles came in. "Just slightly out of tune." He reached for Charles's hand.

Charles shook Jarrod's hand. "Well, that big bandage and that bruise don't do you any justice, but it's good to see you on your feet. And I'm awful glad neither one of us was at your home when it decided to blow up."

"I'm sorry we haven't gotten in touch with you sooner," Jarrod said and sat back down, motioning to Charles to sit in the other armchair. "I've been in the hospital."

"What happened, sir?" Charles asked as he sat down and Nick sat down on the sofa.

"I rescued a lady in distress and got kicked in the head for my efforts," Jarrod said, "but I'm recovering."

"Well, I had heard about the explosion at the house, and I was just about to wire you in Stockton, thinking you were there, but I didn't know about the pretty purple face. There is something I need to talk to you about, Mr. Barkley."

"We have something to talk to you about, too, but go ahead Charles."

"You know I've been trying to find one good full time job," Charles said, and Jarrod nodded. "Well, when your house blew up, the man I do the other part time work for – Mr. Stark – well, he's a banker, you know, and he offered me a full time job as teller in his bank."

Jarrod's eyes lit up. "Charles, that's an amazing opportunity!"

Charles smiled. "I'm glad you think so, Mr. Barkley, but of course, it means I can't work for you anymore."

"A full time job in a bank is far better than working part time for me," Jarrod said. "Congratulations, Charles. I'm happy for you. I know you'll be happy at the bank."

"I'm due to start next week, but if you need me to work a notice, I can do that."

Jarrod shook his head. "Not necessary. My brothers are staying with me until I get back on my feet, and what I wanted to tell you was that I am trying to line up a full time housekeeper. I'll be fine, Charles. And I couldn't be happier for you."

Charles stood up. "Thank you, Mr. Barkley. I wasn't sure how pleased you'd be about me leaving you."

Jarrod stood up and extended his hand. "Pleased about you leaving me, no, but pleased about the good turn your life is taking, I definitely am."

Charles took his former employer's hand. "I wish you nothing but the best, Mr. Barkley. I'm sure you'll be back up to your old self in no time."

Nick stood up as well and offered his hand to Charles. "I wish the best for you, too, Charles. And I'll probably see you now and then at the bank."

"Thank you, sir."

Nick saw Charles to the door as Jarrod sat back down. When Nick came back in, he said, "Well, here's hoping our idea works, because suddenly, you really do need a new housekeeper."

"You know, Nick, I heard a story once that seems to fit with all this."

Nick sat down on the sofa again. "What's that?"

"A man comes across a little boy digging away at a pile of horse manure. The man asks, 'What the heck are you doing, son?' The boy gives him a big grin. 'There's a pony in here somewhere!'"


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

The only difficulty the Barkleys faced during the night was that both Nick and Heath heard groaning coming from Jarrod's bedroom just before dawn. They didn't know that he was still having pain, and he didn't tell them about the problem or the fact that the doctor had given him medication for it. They were a bit alarmed.

Nick got up and went to look in on him. By the time he got there, Jarrod was awake and sitting up on the edge of the bed. Morning light was beginning to make everything in the room visible.

"You okay, Pappy?" Nick asked.

"Slight headache woke me up," Jarrod said.

"You got any pills for that?"

"Yeah, but I don't need them. They make me too tired anyway. I'm gonna get up and get myself together."

"If you need help shaving or anything, give a yell. Heath and I will be in the next room."

"Did you sleep all right?"

"I did. I guess Heath did, too. I didn't hear anything out of him."

Jarrod reached for his cane and got himself standing. Nick resisted the urge to go to his side and hold him up. He just watched as Jarrod got himself set and started toward him.

"Balance doesn't look too bad this morning," Nick said, opening the door further and stepping aside to let Jarrod through.

"I need to go to the tailor this morning," Jarrod said. "Better let me send a telegram to Mother, too, so she doesn't worry about me. You and Heath can work out who's helping me and who's going back to my house to dig in the rubble."

Jarrod passed by and in a moment was disappearing into the wc. Nick went back to the other bedroom he was sharing with Heath. "He's all right, just a headache," Nick said and began to get his own clothing together for the day.

Heath was already up. He had heard his brothers' conversation. "I'll go check on Cilla first thing, then I'll spend the day with Jarrod while you go over to his place and work," Heath said. "With any luck, they'll be finished with the clean-up over there soon and we can get Jarrod together with his architect in the next day or two."

"Let's just hope there aren't any more catastrophes in Big Brother's life for a while."

"Or ours."

XXXXXXX

Nick took Jarrod to his tailor after breakfast, and after an hour there for final fitting, the tailor told Jarrod his new suit would be ready in only a day or two. They went to a telegraph office then and Jarrod sent a telegram to his mother _: Doing fine. Brothers will stay here for now. Will write letter today. Love Jarrod._

Jarrod was tiring a bit after that, so they went home and Nick planned to put some lunch together after he got Jarrod comfortable in that armchair he was beginning to favor. As Nick started for the kitchen, he took a glance out the front window, and stopped. "Uh-oh."

"Uh-oh what?" Jarrod asked.

"Oh, no," Nick said. "We got another problem."

"What is it?" Jarrod asked as Nick headed for the front door, and Jarrod got himself up and started that way, too.

Nick had the door open fast and had gone outside. Jarrod made it to the door and saw what the "uh-oh" was about. Then he sighed one of his own uh-ohs.

Down at the curb, Nick was helping Heath out of a hack, and Cilla and Hilda were with him. Heath was on crutches. Nick helped him up the stairs, and the women followed along, carrying their bags.

"What have you done?" Jarrod asked as Nick helped Heath inside.

"It's just a sprained ankle," Heath said and struggled through the door with Nick's help.

Jarrod stayed at the door, helping the ladies in before he closed it behind them.

"He twisted it over the curb as he was leaving to come back here," Hilda said. "I took a careful look at it, and it doesn't appear to be broken, but I had him soak it while I went to get him some crutches. He's refusing to see a doctor – we'll see how that plays out over the next few hours. He's going to be off his feet for a few days, so we had a long talk and decided it was time for Cilla to assume her housekeeping duties here and I would continue as everybody's visiting nurse."

Jarrod couldn't help chuckling a little at "everybody's" visiting nurse as he closed the door.

As Nick sat him down in the armchair that Jarrod hadn't claimed, Heath said, "Nick, you've met Cilla, I know. Have you met her – excuse me, our – visiting nurse, Hilda Clay?"

Nick stood up straight and smiled at the woman who came with Cilla. "No," he said. "Hello, it's nice to meet you."

Jarrod sat himself down in the armchair he had claimed, and as he did he noticed the look in Nick's eyes as he reached to shake Hilda's hand. He couldn't see Hilda's eyes, but he had the sneaking suspicion from the sound of her "Hello" to Nick, that something was going on here. He saw Heath and Cilla look at each other and could tell they were getting the same feeling.

Jarrod smiled, relaxed, and thought to himself, "Looks like we've found another pony."

At least he thought he had thought it to himself, but Heath said, "Pony? What pony?"

Nick chuckled a little self-consciously, since he knew what Jarrod was talking about. Jarrod just laughed at himself a little, aware now that he had been thinking out loud. He gave a very fond look toward his brothers and the women who were now part of all their lives. "Ladies," he said, "nevermind me. I have a head injury and that's my excuse for my musings."

"Excuse is right," Nick said. "Brother Jarrod often goes off on these little tours of his imagination, even without a head injury."

Hilda helped raise Heath's leg onto a footstool, and after a grunt of pain, Heath said to her and to Cilla. "I don't know what they're talking about. I hope you ladies can help me figure them out."

Nick smiled at Hilda again and said, "That sounds like an awful lot of fun."

Jarrod closed his eyes and rested his head back, smiling. And beginning to compose his letter to his mother and sister, this time silently and only in his mind.

"Dear Mother and Audra – I am doing very well, and wait until you hear about Nick and Heath…."

The End

(Sequel - "Brother Cupid" - to follow...)


End file.
